Velvet Rain
by Bibly
Summary: The sequel to Ecstasy of Blue. Rock and Bass have revealed their feelings for one another, but how long will their relationship last? ~ * Finished! (Chapter 10 redone!) * ~
1. Never Let Go

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter One: Never Let Go  
By: Bibly

Where could he have possibly gone? He was there a moment ago, and as soon as Bass turned around, he was gone. Flat out disappeared without a trace. It had been maybe five minutes since Bass lost sight of him, and he had been looking for him ever since. _Now, where would I go if I were him?_ he thought as he gazed across the Light compound's front yard. _He's not out with Rush, since he always asks Treble and I to join him, and it's not like he'd run off to spar with Blues. I saw him in the house, anyway. So where –_

"Got cha!" someone shouted happily as they pounced on Bass' back, making him fall to the ground.

"What the -?! Rock!" Bass shouted in surprise as Rock's childish giggle reached his ears. "Where in all hell did you run off to?"

Rock sat indian-style on Bass' back, drumming his fingers on the taller bioroid's 'shoulder blades.' "I went to check on how the stuff's growing in Roll's garden out back."

"And?" Bass inquired as he peered at Rock out of the corner of his eye. _So cute…_, he thought as a large smile greeted his gaze.

"It's really pretty!" Rock giggled. He stood, allowing Bass to roll onto his back, then grabbed his hand and pulled him up. Bass grinned and pulled Rock towards him, wrapping his arms around his waist, and gave him a light kiss on his nose. Rock smiled. _So much has happened within these past few weeks…_

"What'd she plant, anyway?" Bass asked as they headed towards the backyard.

"Just about everything you can imagine," someone stated from above. As the two glanced up, they spotted Blues standing on the roof with his arms crossed over his chest, his scarf beating against his armor in the soft wind. He landed on the ground with a soft thump as he joined them. "But I'll have to wait until my next visit to try most of it."

Rock blinked. "You're leaving?" he asked softly.

"You know I come and go as I please, bro," Blues said with a wink. "I'll be back in a few weeks though. Need to try more of that stuff in the garden once it's all done growing and such. The only thing actually done growing are the grapes, and they're pretty damn dandy."

A large smile appeared on Blues' face when Rock jumped at him, embracing him in a tight hug. "Thanks for everything, Blues," he thanked him.

Blues returned the hug, giving him a soft pat on the back as well. "No problem. Anything to help." Turning to Bass, he shook his hand, giving him a large smirk. "Take care of 'im while I'm gone." He shook his fist at him. "And if you steal any more posters from my room, I will be forced to kick your arse."

Bass laughed, flashing him a thumbs up. "Right. Yeah. Sure. Of course I won't touch your posters, old man."

An aggravated sigh escaped through Blues' lips at the comment, then shook his head and waved at them one last time. And with that, he disappeared into the sky, no one knowing where he was headed but he himself.

Silence enveloped the two boys as they stood staring into the sky. Bass slowly wrapped an arm around Rock's shoulders and glanced down at him. It was obvious that the youngest of the Light brothers already missed the eldest. _Must be great to have a family that one can love and receive that love in return._ With a slight chuckle, Bass kissed him on the forehead. "Miss him already, eh?"

"Yeah," Rock replied, leaning against him. "He's really fun to hang around. I love him a lot."

"Don't tell me you're falling for your brother now. Cuz if you are…" Bass trailed off, removing his arm from Rock's shoulders and pretending to appear hurt.

Rock glomped onto Bass, nuzzling the crook of his neck lovingly as he wrapped his arms around him. "Of course not! I love you a lot more!"

Bass smiled as he returned the embrace. "Good, because I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

**__**

You'd kill him.

Bass stiffened. _W-What…? What the hell?!_

****

Kill him, Bass.

He shuttered, grasping onto Rock even tighter. _No, no, no, not again, not again! I won't go through this again! It's been gone for so long! Please, not again!_

****

Kill him. Destroy him, Bass. End his pathetic existence and show him that it is YOU who is superior!

"No, no, no…," Bass whispered, closing his eyes tightly as he buried his face in Rock's neck. He could feel Rock squirming within his grip.

"Bass…Bass, what's wrong? You're…squeezing me…," Rock murmured, trying to break away from him.

**__**

Good, tighter now, Bass. Keep squeezing him and you'll snap him in half.

Shaking his head, Bass pulled away from Rock, noticing a pair of confused blue irises staring up at him.

"What's wrong?" Rock asked worriedly. "You were squeezing me so tightly!"

Bass forced a smile and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I just don't ever want to lose you, Blueberry." He deepened the kiss, pressing his lips against Rock's as hard as he could without intentionally hurting him. He pulled away slightly and smiled at him. "I love you so much I don't want to let you go."


	2. Just a Walk in the Park

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Two: Just a Walk in the Park  
By: Bibly

Rock smiled widely as he ran before Bass to the garden, his black hair rustling in the wind as he went. He looked up at the sky, admiring its light blue color and fluffy white clouds. It was such a beautiful day. The sun would begin to set soon, and Rock couldn't wait. He loved watching the sunset, and loved it even more when he was able to watch it while lying in Bass' tight embrace.

Something hard suddenly came in contact with Rock's body, and before he was able to stumble to the ground, a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, lifting his white t-shirt up slightly, and held him close. He looked up and smiled. Bass was holding him, his eyes staring down at him softly. "How'd you get here so fast?" Rock asked, snuggling up to Bass as he wrapped his arms around him as well.

"You're just slow," Bass stated with a chuckle.

"That's not nice!" Rock said sternly, glaring at him.

Bass smirked. "You're cute when you're angry, you know that?" Rock blushed as Bass kissed him softly, slowly. He closed his eyes, melting into the loving touch. _How long has it been now? Three, maybe four weeks since we got together?_ Rock moaned slightly when he felt Bass' hands move up and down along his back. He slowly opened his mouth, allowing the taller bioroid's tongue the entrance it had been nagging for. _It's been so wonderful… Almost like a dream…_

Rock remained with his eyes closed even after Bass' lips had lifted off his own. He felt the gentle touch of Bass' hand upon his cheek and gazed up at him, staring into his red irises. He couldn't help but shudder. Even though they were on good terms and hadn't lifted a single finger in any attempt to hurt one another, Bass' eyes still brought back memories from the past. Memories that hurt to remember and think about. _Why think about them? It's all in the past. This is the present; the future. We're together, and that's all that matters now. Our stupid quarrels are done with._ "Bass…?"

"Hmm?"

"How about…," Rock giggled slightly, knowing what he was about to do would annoy him, "…we eat some grapes?"

Bass blinked then sighed in aggravation. "You know how to destroy a perfectly good moment, you know that?" A large smile was all he got in return. He couldn't help but smile back. "No matter." He licked Rock's cheek, then grinned. "I'll just get you later, is all."

"Bass!" Rock shouted in surprise.

"What? Why're you surprised?" Bass grinned, kissing him deeply for a moment and then pulling away. "You should know what I'm like by now. I won't let either of us go for more then a few days without some good ol' fashion lovin'!"

Rock sighed, slamming his forehead into Bass' chest.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

"Why did you slam your head into my chest in the first place? That DID hurt, you know!" Bass shouted as he rubbed his chest slightly.

"I didn't mean to SLAM it into your chest; I just wanted to rest my head there!" Rock answered. He picked a bunch of grapes from the vines that had grown over the fence that surrounded the garden and walked over to him. "I really didn't mean to hurt you!"

Bass smirked. "Yeah, well, it dun matter now. Doesn't hurt all that much now, anyway." He glanced at the grapes Rock held in his hand. "So, are those the grapes?"

"Yep yep." Rock ripped off a few and handed them to him. "But you gotta be careful when ya eat 'em. There're seeds inside of 'em. See, watch." Ripping one of the grapes off, he squeezed it slightly, waiting a bit until a small portion of the clear yellow round substance poked out of its purple skin. Putting all but the skin in his mouth, Rock forced the seeds out of the grape with his teeth and then spit them into his hand. "See? The grapes taste pretty nasty it you eat 'em with 'em."

__

Uh…so…these're grapes…, Bass thought as he eyed the five round objects that had been placed in his hand. _Never had grapes before._ Memories of his life in Wily's Skull Fortresses suddenly came to mind as he thought. He and all the other Robot Masters rarely ate actual food, not that they needed to anyway. Once in a while, they would sneak into the kitchen and take a couple of things that Wily had a lot of and would share amongst themselves. Well, almost share. They more or less had to fight over everything. Nonetheless, he had tasted only a few things in his lifetime, and grapes were defiantly not one of them.

Bass was brought back to reality by Rock's gentle voice. "Huh, what?"

"Aren't you gonna try one?" Rock asked, his large eyes peering up at him.

"…Of course, Blueberry," he replied. _Hopefully these things taste better than them damn tanks._ Gasping one of the grapes in his fingers, he did just as Rock had instructed. His eyes widened slowly as the sweet taste filled his mouth. "Wow…these ARE good!" He finished the other four quickly and smiled. "I think I could live off those things!"

Rock giggled as he handed Bass another bunch of grapes. "Well, here! Have some more!"

"Mucho gracias!" Bass grabbed them from him and began snacking away immediately. 

A smile appeared on Rock's face as Bass ate. After a few moments, he asked, "How about we take a walk through the forest. I really don't feel like going back into the house or into the city."

Bass swallowed. "Sure!" Wrapping an arm around Rock's shoulder, Bass continued to snack, offering Rock some as he went along. He smirked as he hand-fed the older bioroid. He may have been older, but Bass tended to act more mature then he did. On the battlefield, however, the two acted very much alike.

__

…The battlefield…

****

Death.

No.

****

Rock's death.

No!

****

Rock's death is coming, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can't win, Bass.

You went away before, now STAY AWAY FOR GOOD!

****

That can't be done. I may have gone away before, but now I'm here to stay. That long period of silence was just to give you a sense of false security. I just waited until the time was right.

Damn it! Just stop it already!

Bass rubbed his temples, barring his teeth as a battle raged within his mind.

"Bass? Bass, what's wrong?" Rock stopped walking and peered up at him. "Are you okay?"

"…Nothing's wrong," Bass answered after a while. He glanced down at him and smiled. Sweat trickled down his brow as he stared at him, but he wiped away quickly with one of his fingers. "Just had an itch."

"On your forehead?"

"Yup."

"…Weird."

"Well, what'dya expect? Being weird is pretty damn fun!"

Rock gasped. "So you mean I love a weirdo?! Eep!" He began to run away from him. "I don't wanna spend my time with any weirdo!" he joked.

"Hey! I'm not just ANY weirdo!" Bass began to chase after him, his long violet hair blowing in the wind as he ran. He laughed as he jumped over tree stumps and ducked under low-hanging branches. Half of the things he had to duck under, Rock didn't even have to move. The two soon ended up in a large grassy field and, using the less bumpy surface to his advantage, Bass sped up and soon reached the little runaway. He latched onto him and the two tumbled to the ground. Rock landed on top of him, laughing happily as he rested his head on Bass' chest. Bass placed a finger under his chin and brought him up so that they could see eye-to-eye. He smiled. "I'm YOUR weirdo." He kissed him under the blood red sky as the sun settled behind the horizon, allowing the moon to shed its soft light upon the two lovers.


	3. Love Beyond Programming

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Three: Love Beyond Programming  
By: Bibly

That damn failure. He had gone into battle and never returned. Not that it actually mattered, anyway. Wily was beginning to sicken from Bass' constant yapping and refusing to follow his direct orders. The fact that he was gone was more pleasant than anything. As he sat on a hard stool before a pile of paperwork, he rubbed his hands against his face. Now how was he supposed to destroy that annoying Mega Man? Although Bass was a failure, he had been the only one to withstand against the Blue Bomber for so long and return with a far amount of damage, but not enough to actually kill him, like many of the others had. _…The others!_ Grabbing a nearby intercom, he pressed in a random code for one of the Robot Masters and shouted, "This is your creator! Report!"

"Yes sir, Dr. Wily. Tenguman here," came the reply.

Wily scowled. Why had he given Tenguman and Bass such similar sounding voices? He shook the thought away. "Come to the lab on the double! I had a mission for you!"

"Right! I'm on my way! Over and out!"

Silence followed. Wily placed the intercom back on the table before him and grinned. He would kill him, no matter what sort of sacrifice had to be made.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

"There is so much a man could tell you, so much he could say. You remain, my power, my pleasure, my pain – baby…," Bass sung softly, his cheek pressed against Rock's black hair. He smiled when he felt Rock snuggle cup closer to him. _My little Blueberry…_

"You've got a really nice voice, Bass," Rock complimented, looking up at him.

Bass peered back. He kissed him on the forehead lightly. "Thanks, babe." Rolling over onto his back, Bass watched as the stars above them sparkled brightly in the now dark sky. Rock placed a hand on his chest and closed his eyes, resting peacefully within his warmth. Bass sighed. How could he have ever wanted to kill such a sweet, innocent creature? He was so small, so soft, so warm, and yet, so powerful… Why did he have to care that Rock was better then him? Why did it matter?

**__**

You want to prove to Wily that you are his greatest creation.

Bass cringed. There he was, lying next to the bioroid he loved with everything he had when his stupid programming had to chime in. After glancing down at Rock and realizing that he had fallen asleep, he slipped away slowly and knelt by his side. He watched as the Blue Bomber wiggled slightly before falling still once again. _I love you, Rock. I always will._

****

You don't love him.

Fuck you. I love him.

****

You're lying to yourself. The only thing you'd ever love is watching him die.

I would NEVER love that! Bass walked away from his love a bit, rubbing his mouth with his hand.

**__**

You love it already. You're salivating.

I am not! Listen, there is no way in hell I would kill him!

****

There is, and you will.

"No, I won't!" Bass muttered aloud, clenching his fists.

**__**

You're already longing for his death. I can tell. I am your programming; no matter how hard you try, no matter how long you're able to hold out on your longing for that puny, meaningless bastard's death, I will always come back stronger and more vicious than before. There is nothing you can do to stop me.

"Oh, there is a way to stop it, all right!" Bass shouted, glaring at the ground hatefully. "There is!" A deafening silence suddenly fell into the night as Bass stood glaring. A pair of arms soon wrapped around him. He turned around and spotted Rock staring at him dreamily. "Rock…Rock, let's go back home. I need to ask Dr. Light a favor." He glanced to the side. "Something I should have asked him when I first came here." Rock placed a finger on his lips lightly. Bass raised an eyebrow. "Rock, wha –"

Rock's lips pressed against his own in a tender kiss. Bass' thoughts suddenly disappeared as he wrapped his arms around him, pressing his lips against Rock's. Rock soon broke away to nuzzle him. "Not yet, Bass. It's a beautiful night. I don't want to go back yet."

"Whatever you say…" Bass brushed away a lock of Rock's hair before kissing him again, laying him on the soft grass. "We'll go back when we're done…" He smirked when Rock began to blush.


	4. Stupid Mistakes

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Four: Stupid Mistakes   
By: Bibly

Tenguman brushed his shaggy brown hair out of his face as he placed on his mask, listening to the light click that confirmed his mask had been placed on securely. He scowled as he raced down one of the thin dark hallways of the Skull Fortress. _Why did the Doc have to make this a no-teleporting fortress? Shesh, it'd be so much easier if we could teleport around here. Wouldn't have to run around like maniacs all the time._ His boots screeched on the cold gray floor as he turned to run down another hallway. "Man, it's like a big friggin' maze!" he mumbled to himself. He soon came to a halt before the laboratory door.

Without even a moment's silence, Wily shouted, "Come in, Tenguman!"

Tenguman shuttered. How Wily knew who was behind the door without even having to check seemed eerie to him. And considering he was only human, the thought itself almost scared him.

As the door slid open, Tenguman walked inside, then bowed politely. "There's something you wanted to ask of me, Dr. Wily?" he asked. He glanced up at him, still bowed. Wily had his back turned to him as he typed. Tenguman waited patiently for Wily to answer.

"Ah, yes. Tenguman." Wily turned to face him, watching as one of his newest Robot Masters straightened before him. He had failed him once, yes, but once was much better than the numerous times that failure had tried and lost. "I have a mission for you. A rather simple one, really." He glared at him. "Do you think you'll be able to kill Mega Man without a problem?"

Tenguman smirked behind his mask. "Of course. I was overconfident during our first battle, but now I'm aware of his strength. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Good, good," Wily stated with a nod of his head. "Come here."

The soft click of Tenguman's boots echoed into the air as they slammed against the ground. As soon as he reached his creator, the doctor grabbed his left cufflink and pulled open his transporter. Tenguman didn't make a single peep as Wily pulled out a cord from the nearest computer and connected it to him. With the press of a bottom, information raced across the screen, and the next thing Tenguman knew, he knew the exact location of the Light compound. He smirked.

"Now, I want you to go to that good for nothing Light's house and kill him and his 'family'," Wily commanded.

Tenguman nodded. "Right. I'll be sure to succeed, Dr. Wily!" With that, he turned and raced out the lab.

"And don't you dare fail me!"

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Rock laughed loudly as Bass carried him on his back through the forest. "Bass, haha, slow down!"

"What's that? You want me to go faster? All righty!" Bass' pace quickened as he bolted past trees, leaped over fallen branched and swayed from side to side to avoid any bushes that stood in his way. "How's that?"

Rock's arms wrapped around his neck even tighter, hugging the two closer together. "Bass, I didn't think you'd still have enough energy to run this fast after all 'a that!"

Bass stopped, peeling Rock off of his back and listening to the older bioroid's smaller feet touch the ground. He turned and faced him, a soft smile on his face. "I can do lots of things, Rock." He grinned, placing a hand on his hip and drawing him closer to him. "Lots of things."

A soft pink hue covered Rock's cheeks as he peered up at him. His mouth opened slightly. Those red irises were so unbelievable, so hypnotic… His eyes wandered down to his lips. So rough in appearance, and yet, so soft to the touch. Rock raised a hand and ran a finger over the lips he had kissed so many times within their time together. Just weeks earlier, he could only dream of kissing them, of having his own lips pressed against them. But now he was actually able to do what he had dreamed making everything they had done together was like it came straight from his dreams. Maybe they did, but whether or not all of it was just a big dream didn't matter as long as he didn't wake up anytime soon.

Rock watched as Bass did the same to him, pressing his ruff fingers against his own lips, caressing them lovingly. Rock's gaze returned to Bass' eyes. He gasped. The soft, loving gaze he had seen earlier was gone. He was now staring into painful, hate-filled eyes. His pupils had shrunken severely, sending old memories of their numerous battles surging through Rock's mind. _What's going on? Why's he staring at me like that?_ Rock continued to look at him, fear and confusion appearing with such veracity that he didn't know what to think. He suddenly felt his hips pressed against Bass' tightly, and just as he was about to ask what he was doing, the younger bioroid's lips were pressed hard against his own. Rock squirmed but couldn't get out of his tight grip.

Within moments he was down, squished between Bass and the cold night grass. Rock tried to push him away and call out, he tried everything he possibly could, but he couldn't even manage to move an inch or mutter a single peep. He gasped when Bass' tongue pushed its way into his mouth, accompanied by his hand slipping into his pants. _What is he doing?! He's never done this before!_ Despite his usual aggressive nature, when it came to being cuddly with Rock, Bass was more like a puppy then anything else. He never pushed Rock to do something he didn't want to do. This was something he defiantly didn't want to do – not since he was still somewhat weary from their previous make out session – and Bass wasn't listening to him at all. 

Rock tried even harder, attempting to kick and squirm about until he finally managed to loosen Bass' grip. He pushed him off of him as soon as he found an opening and scrambled to his feet. He gasped for air as he watched his love hit his head against a nearby rock.

"Bass…Bass, what were you doing…?" he whispered, his eyes wide and full of fright.

Bass shook his head, his eyes closed tightly. "Ugh…uh…" He opened an eye and peered up at him. Slowly the other eye opened. "Rock…" Bass stood up, his arms hanging limply at his sides. "Rock…I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me…"

Rock shook his head. "Something's wrong and you're not telling me what." He shuttered. "Bass, please tell me what's going on… There've been times when you look like you're a million miles away, and as soon as I start talking to you, you come back… Please… I need to know…" Strong arms wrapped around Rock slowly. "Please…"

"If you really want to know…," Bass whispered. He took a deep breath. "This probably won't come as a surprise to you, since you're a bioroid yourself, but, well…my programming…it's been nagging me…to, well…finish what I was made to do…"

Rock tightly closed his eyes as he snuggled up to him even more. _I knew this was too good to be true… Shouldn't have thought that no strings would be attached to loving the one whose whole purpose in life was to kill me… But – _"Bass, why don't you ask Dr. Light to reprogram you? Why didn't you ask him to begin with?"

Bass pressed his forehead against Rock's. "As soon as I realized we felt the same way about each other, my programming seemed to disappear, so I didn't think it was needed. It reappeared today, stronger than before, and now I realize my stupid, stupid mistake." He placed his hands on Rock's face and forced him to look up at him. "As soon as we got home, I was planning to ask him to reprogram me. I don't want to do what I just did again." He closed his eyes. "I came so close to doing something you didn't want to do. I don't want to force anything on you… And who knows what might have happened if my programming got full control over my actions…"

Rock grabbed his hands. "Well, let's hurry up!" he shouted quickly. "We need to do this as soon as possible!"

"Right!" Bass agreed, following behind Rock with their fingers interlocked.


	5. Turnabout

****

Velvet Rain  
Chapter Five: Turnabout  
By: Bibly

When Rock and Bass spotted the Light compound in the distance, light shinning softly from a few of its numerous windows, they glanced at each other. Rock's face was shrouded in worry, scared that something would happen to Bass and he would lose control of himself again. Bass himself seemed like his old self. His expression was unreadable, but Rock could almost feel the determined – yet…scared? - aura he gave off. "Bass…," Rock whispered, but was immediately interrupted by Bass speeding past him and dragging him behind him. Rock nearly lost his footing on numerous occasions. "Bass!"

"We need to hurry, Rock!" Bass shouted as he bolted up the small porch that stood before the door and headed straight into the lab. Just as he had thought, Dr. Light was still up, working on who knew what. "Dr. Light!" he shouted, scaring the old man.

Dr. Light spun around and looked at the two. They were panting, having run so far. "What's wrong with you two? You both look like you've run a marathon! Not that it should faze either of you, anyway."

"Dr. Light, you MUST reprogram me!" Bass demanded, clenching his hands into fists. 

The good doctor stared at him, surprised by his crazed statement. "…What? Why?"

Bass forced his eyes closed tightly. "Because…because my programming is resurfacing."

"…Resurfacing?"

"Dad, please!" Rock shouted, walking up to him. "Please reprogram him! He's not actting the way he did before, and his programming is tearing him apart!

Dr. Light looked at the violet-haired bioroid. He watched as he gazed back up at him, his eyes glistening with a sense of determination, and yet he could clearly see that the young red-eyed bioroid was worried about what may take place at any given time. Weeks ago, Dr. Light would never have imagined that an emotion such as worry could be shown on such a cold face. He had been proved wrong, however, and on numerous occasions. He placed his pen down on his notepad as he nodded. "I'll do what I can."

Bass nodded in return. "Thank you." Moving across the room quickly, he lay on the table that stood in the center, ready to go through whatever he had to in order to achieve happiness.

"Rock, you're going to help me out here, since Roll is out getting some last minute groceries," Dr. Light stated, getting out a large amount of tools and other instruments he would need in order to accomplish what he was asked to do.

Bass smiled to himself when he spotted Rock gazing down at him. His angelic face was now completely immersed in worry and fear. The Wily 'bot touched his cheek tenderly. "It'll be alright," he murmured. "Everything will be fine."

"Now I need to you shut down for a while, Bass," Dr. Light commanded.

Doing as he was told, Bass slowly began to shut down. He listened as the usual murmur of his circuitry fell silent. Just as he felt his consciousness slip away, he was jerked awake, his mind burning with an unbelievable pain.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Tenguman's boots slammed against the ground as he dashed down the hall. After ramming into a few Sniper Joes and Metools, he was beginning to get a bit grouchy. Upon coming to the main entrance, he burst forth into the darkened world, continuing to run until he was outside of the protective shield the crazed doctor had surrounded his fortress with. Locking onto the location he was given, he disappeared in a beam of light.

His boots hit the grass-covered ground softly as soon as he landed. Looking about, he realized he was in the middle of a forest. He blinked a few times, then cursed to himself. Without another moment's hesitation, he bolted in the direction of the soft flicker of lights he saw in the distance, ignoring the massive amounts of light that came flooding from the nearby city. A large grin spread across his lips behind his mask as Tenguman came before the Light compound. _Time to die, boy._

Tenguman dashed across the lawn, searching for any sign of the Blue Bomber. Most of the lights were off within the house, which was somewhat of a good thing, since it would give him good reason to destroy the whole house in general – not that he didn't already have one, anyway. Before long, he came across a rather large section of the building from which light flooded from. Chuckling to himself, he slammed into the nearest wall, listening to the bricks crumble upon contact and his chuckling grow into an insane laughter.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Bass screamed in rage, lashing out at the numerous test tubes and other equipment that stood within arms length. Rock stood before Dr. Light, his trademark blue armor stretched across his body as he tried his best to keep anything from happening to him.

"Bass, please stop it! Bass!" Rock shouted, his attempts in getting him to calm down futile. He watched as his love was enveloped in a flash of light, soon to reveal his own black armor. His teeth ground together, tears welling in his eyes. _His programming..,_ he thought._ He can't fight it anymore…!_ "Bass, try to fight it! Please! Just until you shut down!"

A loud roar escaped the ebony bioroid's throat as he gripped at his head, rearing back in severe pain. "…I'm…trying…!" he forced out, his teeth bared. He thrashed about wildly, crashing into a nearby cabinet. He slowly slipped to the ground.

Rock started towards him, concern shining brightly in his blue eyes. "Bass! Bass, are you okay?!"

Bass was off the floor and lunging towards him in a split second. Without a second though, he grabbed onto the Blue Bomber's arm and aimed his buster cannon at his head. A loud slam surprised him, and caused everyone within the room to gaze at the offender.

Blues stood in the doorway, his red and gray armor stretched across his body as he stared at the scene before him. His eyes widened behind his sunglasses. How was this possible? There was Dr. Light, standing in the corner of the room, fear-stricken and white as a ghost, and near him stood Rock and Bass. But Bass…they weren't in any sort of embrace that would make them appear to be a happy couple. If he hadn't had barged in at that very second, Blues would have become brother-less.

"What in all hell is going on?!" Blues shouted, staring at Bass. His reply was nothing more than an ear-piercing roar. Rock was flung to the side as Bass bolted towards the elder Light sibling, charging his buster cannon until Rock's angelic voice reached his ears.

"STOP IT! PLEASE!" Rock shouted between sobs as his cheeks began to burn and turn red. "Don't give into it! Please, Bass! I love you!"

Bass suddenly stopped and gazed back at him, bewildered. Why was he suddenly taken aback? Rock had stated that he loved him before, hadn't he? Then why? Why?! …Was it…was it those tears? But he had cried for him once before. So why now? Why were those tears effecting him?

The moment of silence was interrupted by flying debris and a loud, crazed laughter. Tenguman slammed into Blues, sending him flying into the opposite wall and just barely missing Dr. Light. "Time to die, ya fucking annoying bastard!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He glanced to the side and spotted Bass staring at him, his teeth bared, his shoulders hunched over, and his cold, blood-red eyes boiling into his own. Tenguman gasped. "It's YOU! What the hell –?!" Slowly, everything clicked into place. Bass had been missing for weeks, and here he comes, crashing into the Light household to find the ebony bioroid himself. If Bass were a true Wily 'bot, then he would have returned home, but he didn't, and it was now obvious to Tenguman as to why that was. "You tra –!"

Another loud roar filled the night at Bass grasped at his head in pain. He lunged at Rock once more, blood and death his only goal.


	6. Forever Lost

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Disclaimer: Anything that has anything to do with Rockman means it ain't owned by me. o_o In other words, no one in this fic is mine! They're all owned by Capcom! Yesh!

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Random Rant: Yeah, so I'm adding random rants in here now. Just so I can inform you guys as to what's going on and such. Sorry I haven't been updating a lot lately. ^_^; School's kickin' my ass, and I've been on a really bad writer's block…thing. It sucks majorly. _

I hope you guys are liking the story so far! ^_^ I'm thinking of doing a sequel to this, too. What'dya think?

BTW, sorry this chapter is so short! ::is shot::

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Six: Forever Lost  
By: Bibly

Rock screamed when Bass' body collided with his own, slamming him against the cabinet so hard that he felt some of his circuits snap under the pressure. He whimpered loudly as his love began to punch and kick at him mercilessly. "B-Bass…! Stop! …P-Please!" he shouted as his hot tears flung into the air with each blow.

Tenguman watched the scene unfold before him, staring confusedly at Bass' sudden primal nature. "…What the hell? Crazy guy…" Shaking his head, he pressed a finger against the side of his head lightly, listening for a soft click before speaking, "Dr. Wily, this is Tenguman. Do you read me?"

"What do you want?!" Wily's voice screamed over the intercom. "You should be killing Mega Man!"

"Wily, sir…Bass seems to have all of this under control."

A moment of silence passed between the two before either of them spoke. "…Bass?!" Wily shouted, causing Tenguman to flinch.

_Why's the only man gotta scream like that? Shesh… _"Yes. He seeming to be beating the crap out of –"

"How the hell did that mangy bastard manage to survive all this time?!" Wily shouted again, obviously confused by the turn of events.

"I think –"

"Bring him back here when he's done! I want to know what the hell's been going on with that failure! Maybe he's learned something useful over all this time!" With that, Wily was gone.

Tenguman sighed, rubbing his chin. "Crazy old man. He's gonna blow a gasket one of these days. Why the hell would he wanna know what Bass' learned if he's gonna kill the blue kid to begin with?" A loud crash brought Tenguman back to the scene before him. His eyes widened slightly.

Rock was now hanging onto the far wall tightly, his hands and boots slammed into the wall far enough so that he could get a good grip. He was breathing heavily as he stared down at Bass with blurred eyes. Bass stared back up at him from his place on the floor, growling lowly as he slowly made his way towards him. 

"Bass…please, stop it, Bass…," Rock begged, his tears still flowing down his cheeks. _I love you, Bass… Please…_

Bass' left eye twitched slightly as he suddenly came to a stop. They continued to stare at each other, neither of them bothering to move. Bass' eyes slowly widened as he stared at the Blue Bomber, his bottom lip beginning to tremble as they did so. "…Rock…" His deep voice was quiet and forced, almost as if it hurt to talk.

Rock continued to gaze at him as he spoke. _…Has his programming…?_ "…Bass…?"

The ebony bioroid fell to his knees as he broke down in a fit of tears. His programming had destroyed everything; he could no longer control what was going on. Nothing could be avoided now. Everything was crashing down upon him and the one he loved. Everything.

"Bass!" Rock shouted as he lepted from the wall and ran to his side. "Bass, don't cry! Please!"

A swift punch to the face met Rock halfway, sending him crashing into a nearby rack of test tubes. Tenguman chuckled. "Since he's a bit busy being a wuss, I believe I'll finish the job!" he shouted, crouching. Just as he was about to leap at the small bioroid, a large plasma blast met the side of his armor, tossing him to the opposite wall as if he were nothing more than a mere rag doll, knocking him unconscious. Rock peered at Bass warily, watching as his plasma cannon warped back into his normal hand.

"Rock…," he forced out. "I'm…s…sorry…!" Reaching over, he grabbed Rock by the shoulder and kissed him, baring his teeth into Rock's flesh. Rock whimpered softly as his own blood trickled down his chin. He gazed into Bass' eyes, watching as the glint in his eyes changed from anger to love to sorrow to anger once again.

Bass pulled away suddenly, releasing Rock and latching onto Tenguman. Before another word could be muttered, the two Wily 'bots were gone.


	7. Forgotten Memories From Times of Love

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Disclaimer: ::gasp:: Guess what! I don't own these guys! Take a while guess at who does?

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Random Rant: My oh my, sorry this took so long! X_x Apparently, I have lost the disk on which I saved all of this, and I had two chapters done that I was going to upload but…I kinda CAN'T. So I have to re-write them. ::sighs:: 

From what I've been told by the numerous people that have IMed me as of late, people really seem to like this series. o_o Not to sound like a moron, but…seriously? You guys like it? ::is really happy if people do:: 

Anyway, enjoy, guys. And watch out for my stupidity. @_@ And, just like the pervious chapter, sorry this is so short, but where I cut everything off was so perfect… .;;;

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Seven: Forgotten Memories From Times of Love  
By: Bibly

Rock stared at where Bass stood just moments before, his mind racing. What had just happened? Bass had lost control, part of the wall was now missing because of Tenguman, Blues was attempting to get up off the floor… He seemed to know of what had just taken place, so why wouldn't it all just connect together and form a picture? _Bass…_ "Bass…come back…," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. He ran two fingers along the two bleeding holes that were now near his upper lip, wincing when he felt a soft stinging sensation warning him of just how hard Bass had actually bitten down. He sat down and brought his knees up to his chest. Nothing made sense any more. Earlier today, they had been so happy, chasing after each other, playing, having fun, and now…now everything was lost. Bass was gone; Rock didn't have a clue as to if he returned to Wily's or if he had simply just run off, and he didn't know if they'd ever see each other again.

No.

They WOULD see each other again. Rock wouldn't have it any other way.

Blues grunted as he got to his feet, dusting himself off and adjusting his scarf and sunglasses. "That was NOT cool," he stated with a huff. He glanced around. Holy hell, had the place taken a beating. And the fight had lasted, what, no more than a good five minutes or so?

He looked around, trying to find his younger brother, but found no one. He turned to his 'father.' "Dad? Dad, where's Rock?"

Dr. Light was looking about as well, but most likely surveying the damage than looking for his youngest 'son.' "I'm not sure, Blues. I can't see with all the rubble in the way."

"Rock! Hey, Rock! Where are you?" Blues skipped between the fallen rubble along the perimeter of the room. "Where are – Rock!" He stopped and bolted towards his younger brother. "My God, Rock, what's wrong?" he whispered as he knelt by his side.

Rock had fallen from his armor and was now adorned in his street clothes. He gripped at his sleeves tightly, pressing himself up against his legs as he buried his face in his knees, sobbing loudly and rocking back and forth. Blues' expression softened as he, too, fell from his armor. He knew what had happened. It was obvious now. "Rock… It's okay… Big bro's here for you…" Taking a seat next to him, Blues wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders. Rock immediately covered his face with Blues' chest, now gripping onto his shirt with one hand as he continued to cry. Despite the situation, the elder Light brother smiled softly. He grabbed Rock's hand with his free hand and started to rock back and forth himself, hushing his younger brother until he slipped into a deep sleep.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Bass struggled to head back into the fortress, carrying Tenguman's limp form across his shoulder as he went. His fangs bared, he growled and snapped at whoever looked at him. _I don't want to be here!_ he screamed, attempting to break his program's hold on him.

**_There's nothing you can do about it, Bass. It's over; I won, you lost._**

Not yet, you haven't!

**Oh, I think otherwise.**

Looking up, all of Bass' hope for getting free from his 'capture' and returning to Rock hit Rock bottom. Before him stood a large door, plain and simple, with a large 'W' written before it. He knew all too well what his programming intended to do there and then, and couldn't find a way to go around it.

"No, no, NO!" Bass shouted before bursting through the door.

"What – Bass?!" Wily's bewildered expression greeted him. "What the hell are YOU doing here?!"

Bass glared at him, not being able to respond. He dropped Tenguman, then walked over to the lab table. _No, please, no…!_ Having finally lost complete control of his body, Bass laid across the table. His last memory was the look of complete content on Wily's face upon having realized what was going on.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Blues took one last glance at Rock before shutting the door quietly behind him. Poor kid; what had happened that night took a major toll on his body, causing him to pass out completely. Blues sighed as he walked down the hallway towards the wrecked lab. He opened the door and spotted the good doctor attempting to clean whatever he could. He smirked. "I don't think you'll be getting too far."

Dr. Light forced a smile. "I wasn't planning on it." A deafening silence bore between them before he spoke up once again. "Thank you for coming, Blues. I wasn't sure if you had received the transmission or not."

"Thank you for what? All I did was get smacked down by Tenguman and laid there trying to regain consciousness. Or the bioroid equivalent of it, for that matter," he stated dryly.

"Nonetheless, it's still good you're here," Dr. Light continued. He looked at him. "Rock's going to need some support through all of this, and you're the closest one to him. He'll be needing your help wither he later admits it or not."

Blues nodded. "Yeah, yeah…" Despite the careless nature he seemed to be showing during their conversation, he really was beginning to worry for his brother's well being. Who knew how he would take to this sudden turn of events. Blues could only hope that somehow, everything would work out.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Wily smirked to himself as he finished his adjustments, tightening the last bolt before closing the latch. He stared down at the bioroid who slept so peacefully, oblivious to what he was about to experience. Opening a small latch on his chest, Wily pressed a few wires together and then slammed it shut. He watched as Bass wiggled about, sneering and growling as he awoke. Slowly, his eyes opened. Neither of them moved for quite some time. Before long, however, Bass sat up and stared at the wall before him. His gaze slowly fell upon Wily. The mad doctor grinned at the look he had received: cold, emotionless. Nothing of actual life or intelligence actually shown in those eyes that now bore into him.

"Well then, are you ready? Tomorrow morning, you will begin your final attack on Mega Man," Wily commanded with a laugh.

Bass hopped down from the table and nodded. "Yes, master," he replied, his voice monotone and his empty memory banks holding not a single fond memory of the boy Wily spoke of.


	8. Blind Tenderness

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Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, ya hear?! None of them!  
**Random Rant**: Can ya believe it? Just a few more chapters and this thing'll be done with. o_O I've got one person who wants a sequel; any others? =P

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Eight: Blind Tenderness  
By: Bibly

Rock moaned slightly as he awoke. Turning, he buried his face in his pillow to drown out the morning rays of sunshine that streaked across his room from behind the blinds. "Bass, what time is it…?" he muttered. No answer. "Bass?" Rock opened his eyes slightly only to be greeted by a bare sky blue wall rather than the tan face of his love. He sat up suddenly. "Bass, where are – " Then it hit him. Last night, the battle…all of it had been real. _No! No, it didn't really happen!_ he thought to himself as he hopped out of bed. _Bass must have gone downstairs to get some food, that's all. _Heading out of his room, Rock trotted down to the kitchen, his hopes lifting slightly. "Hey, Ba –" Empty. The kitchen was completely empty. Rock frowned. _…Okay…maybe he's somewhere else…_ He searched every one of Bass' usual haunts, but found nothing. Rock ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. The last place he could think of checking was the lab, but he didn't want to. He wanted to hold onto the slight hope that lingered inside him. But he knew he couldn't. He reached for the doorknob hesitantly, his hand remaining there for a few moments before he pushed the door open. All of his hope shattered into a million pieces along with his heart; it was true: Bass was gone.

Propping himself against the door frame, Rock continued to stare at the destruction that lay before him, still refusing to believe that it was all for real. _No… Please, no… Give me some soft of sign to tell me I'm dreaming…_ But no sign came. As he stood, gazing into the destruction that surrounded him – the still dust that lingered in the air, the chunks of wall and cabinets that lay on the ground – he hadn't bothered to realize a shadowed figure walk up behind him.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Wily grinned to himself as he thought of the deed he had just performed. As he continued to work on the damaged Tenguman, he couldn't help but allow his thought to wander elsewhere. _Perfect, just perfect! Maybe NOW Bass can actually defeat Mega Man! I don't know why I hadn't thought of doing this earlier! _His grinned turned into a hate-filled sneer. _Now I remember: that stupid bastard never let his guard down. Even while repairing him, he'd still be online. Stupid bastard. _He grinned again. _Now look at him. He's nothing more than a mere mindless puppet who follows my every command without a single bit of retaliation._ Wily glanced over at the stiff figure that stood before the lab table. His grinned widened.

Bass stood completely erect, lacking the usual hunch in his shoulders that he usually had. His face was completely emotionless and unreadable, his eyes locked on the table itself, taking in everything yet nothing at all. Treble stood at his side, apparently confused and worried over his masters sudden change in composure.

"How are you doing, Bass?" Wily questioned, wondering what the now mindless bioroid would reply with.

"'How are you doing'? That does not compute," Bass replied in a flat voice, its cold edge gone.

Wily rephrased the question. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling however you want me to feel, master."

Another grin crossed the mad doctor's lips. "Good, good! That's exactly what I wanted to hear! Full obedience! I think this new you is going to be quite pleasant, Bass!"

Bass did nothing, just continued to stare unfocused at the tabletop as his master continued to work.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

Warm tears began to streak down Rock's face as he slowly slipped to the ground, his emotions shattered as he continued to deny what he knew was true. He couldn't take it. They were so in love with each other, they had done everything together ever since they revealed their feelings for one another, but he had returned…he had gone back…and Rock refused to believe it.

Slowly, softly, a pair of arms wrapped around Rock's shoulders. He gasped. "Forte?!" Whirling around, Rock's hopes crashed to the floor when a pair of violet eyes greeted his gaze. "…Blues…"

Blues smiled weakly, rubbing his brother's shoulder softly. "Sorry I'm not him. I know you'd rather have him around than me."

Rock shook his head. "No! No, you're my brother… It's just…"

"I know, I know. It's okay, we'll get him back somehow."

Rock gazed at his brother for a while longer before breaking into a fit of tears. Hugging Rock tightly, Blues sighed as he realized just how horribly Rock was reacting to losing the ebony bioroid.


	9. Why?

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Disclaimer: …You should know.  
**Random Rant:** Oh-ho! Another chapter! I've really gotta stop losing interest in this story. _ I hit like…these points where I just stop working on this thing, and then I'll suddenly be like "WHOO! VELVET RAIN!!!" and I'll start working on it. I've also got numerous other ideas in my head, like the sequel to this lil' series (I guess people liked "Ecstasy of Blue" and this one. How that's possible, I'll never know), a RockxBlues story, another RockxForte/Bass which AIN'T a one shot, and numerous others. ::sighs and falls over:: Anyway…enjoy. ^^;;; N' sorry these past few chapters have been so short! ::begs for forgiveness:: ;_; The last chapter will be long, though! Honest!

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Nine: Why?  
By: Bibly

Tenguman felt his circuits suddenly begin to function again. He moaned slightly, running a hand through his brown hair, then rubbing his face roughly. Opening his eyes slowly, he realized that he was lying in Wily's lab. _What the…? BASS!_ "Bass, you fucking bastard, where are you?!" he screamed, jumping to the ground. Spotting his offender at the end of the table, Tenguman grabbed the shorter bioroid by his throat and lifted him off the ground. "What the fuck did you shoot me for, dumb ass?!" Bass stared at him. Normally, no matter what Bass did, it never fazed Tenguman, but those eyes…they were almost…dead.

"He shot at you, Tenguman?" Wily's voice called from behind him.

"Yeah he did!" Tenguman replied, still glaring at the bioroid in his hand.

Wily thought about this for a moment, but thought nothing of it. "…I see. Bass?"

Bass turned his head to look at him, seemingly unfazed by the fact the circuits in his neck were slowly being crushed in the iron-tight grip. "Yes, master?"

"Master?" Tenguman repeated. "Wha –"

"Attack."

Without hesitation, Bass kicked Tenguman in the gut, giving him enough time to slip free, pick him up, and slam him over his knee, knocking on his back. As Tenguman screamed out in pain, confusion, and anger, Bass rammed his hand through Tenguman's chest, pulling out all of his vital circuits and chips, crushing them without thinking. He stared at Wily.

Wily chuckled in amusement despite witnessing the death of one of his 'sons'. "Very good, Bass! Excellently done! And quick, too! I don't believe you'll need to stick around here any longer, so go and kill Mega Man!"

With a bow, Bass exited the room.

~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~

"Why did it have to happen, Blues? Why?" Rock questioned as Blues rocked them both back and forth, clinging onto his older brother's shirt as if it were for dear life.

"Thinks happen, Rock. Obstacles get thrown in the way of true happiness all the time. But you have to work around them. You have to stay strong and know that you'll succeed before you can attain true happiness," Blues replied as he placed his chin on the top of Rock's head. "This'll all work out in the end, don't you worry about it."

Silence lingered between the two for a while, neither of them knowing what to say. "…But…what if it doesn't?" the younger of the Light son's asked softly.

"Don't think that way! It'll work out somehow!"

"…I hope so, Blues. I really do…"

Blues sighed. Rock had hit such a mental low and such a deep state of depression that the poor boy was clinging onto him as if he was afraid that he'd leave him as well. He rubbed Rock's shoulder again.

"…Blues? I wanted to ask you earlier, but…you know…um…how did you…get here? I mean, how did you know something was going on?"

"Dad apparently placed a tracker on my armor quite some time ago just to see where I went off to when I left to go out on my own. I didn't really care, since it's not like he bothered me or anything. Anyway, it seems as though dad had the ability to call me if something should arise, and, when that something did, I dunno what he pressed or whatever, but I knew I was needed back home and I came back as quickly as I could."

"…Oh."

A loud crash suddenly interrupted the moment as someone dashed through the pile of rubble, causing massive amounts of it to go flying into the air and across the room. Rock and Blues stood suddenly, calling forth their armors onto their bodies in order to protect themselves. "The hell is going on?!" Blues shouted loudly, trying to see through the smoke. "Who is it now?! Rock, can you see anything?! …Rock!!" Blues looked over at his brother, only to find him staring wide-eyed ahead of them. He followed his gaze to find the source of his attention: Bass stood before them, his teeth bared and his body hunched over as if he was fit to kill.

"…Bass?! BASS! Bass, you've come back!" Rock shouted happily, tears flowing freely down his cheeks once again. He began to run towards him.

"Rock, DON'T!" Blues shouted, bolting after him.

As Rock got closer and closer to the one he had lost, he noticed that the sparkle that was once present in his eyes was gone. "…Bass? What's wrong?"

Bass roared loudly, baring his fangs at the older bioroid before lunging at him, buster cannon powered up and pointed directly at Rock's chest.


	10. Fairy Tales

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Disclaimer: If you think I own them, you're an idiot.

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Random Rant: Last chapter! Finally! ::dies:: I know, it took me FOREVER to finish this fic, and the interest level has like…died, cuz I've been making these chapters so short, but I promise to make the sequel more interesting! And it'll be damn confusing as well! XD! Eheheheh…heh…eh…yeah. .

::GASP:: I…I…I got fanart!!! O_O!!!!! Lookie!!!

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/view.php?id=117269

Thank you so much, lin.exe!!! I wanted to comment on this so badly, but I can't log onto MM anymore without logging onto someone else's archive! ::cries:: I love it so much, thank you!! ::tackleglomphug!!!:: I drew you more fanart, but since MM won't lemme log on, I had to put it elsewhere. -_-

http://bibly.deviantart.com

Go there, lin. ^_^ Look under "BloodStone." You'll likey, I hope. =P

BTW, all you peeps out there, this isn't MEANT to have any BluesxRock in it. Can't they just be good brothers for once?! ;_; Seriously, if I wanted to make this BluesxRock, I would have made it a lot more crazy, believe me. I have my up n' comin' fanfic "Matter of Pride" to do that in, anyway. ^^; OKAY! I'll shut up now! ::begins writing::

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Velvet Rain  
Chapter Ten: Fairy Tales  
By: Bibly

Rock stood still as he stared at Bass, his circuits practically frozen in the bioroid equivalent to shock. What was going on? Why was Bass running at him, yelling like that and glaring at him with such soulless, hate-filled eyes? Why?

"Rock, move the hell outta the way!" Blues screamed as he pushed his brother off to the side, receiving the full force of the blow. As he rammed into the wall with a sickening crash, he quickly slammed his large arm cuff against Bass' helmet, sending the ebony bioroid flying across the room and into the desk that stood there. Using whatever time he had to spare, he pulled himself free from the hole he had created and raced to stand before the fallen Rock, falling into a ready battle stance as soon as he reached him. "Something's not quite right with him, Rock! He's not himself! Don't go near him!"

"But…but he's back!" Rock shouted from behind. "He's come back!"

Blues growled as he watched Bass rise from the shattered desk. "He's back, but he's not himself!" He formed his right arm into his buster cannon and began to power up as quickly as he could. _I have to keep Rock away from him! No matter what I say, he's not going to believe that something's completely wrong here!_ "Just stay out of the way! I'll take care of this!"

"But – "

"I'll take care of this!!" Blues screamed at him, glancing at him quickly from over his shoulder.

Bass took this slight movement as a sign to attack, and shot a plasma blast at the eldest Light brother quickly, then began to chase after it, making sure he was a good ways away. Just as his programming had presumed, Blues shot off the blast he was charging in order to defend he and his brother, making a rather large explosion occur. Using the large smoke screen that had been created to his advantage, Bass continued to run forward, pulling his arm back and then bringing it before him as hard as he could, grinning to himself when he felt it connect with Blues' cheek. Another sickening crash was heard as the red armored bioroid fell to the floor. 

Blues rubbed his face where he had been hit. "You…stupid…ugh! You punched me, asshole!" Jumping to his feet, he immediately dashed in the Wily 'bot's direction and aimed a kick at his side. It was easily blocked, however. Pulling away, Blues flipped through the air before lunging forward once more, this time ramming his shoulder into Bass' chest and smirking as he watched through the fading smoke as he stumbled back.

Rock watched what was going on from his place on the ground, wanting to believe that it was nothing more than a bad dream; that his brother and his love were not standing before him, kicking and punching the crap out of each other, one trying to protect him and the other trying to…to… He shook his head. He didn't even want to THINK such a thought! Bass wouldn't kill him! They loved each other too much, Rock and Bass. Bass would never return to being the way he was just to kill him. …But…what if it had been a lie? What if all the weeks they had spent together, talking, laughing, cuddling, making love…what if it had been nothing more than a lie? That Bass had done it just to get him to believe he loved him and then rip him apart from the inside out like some sort of sick, twisted joke? Rock felt fresh tears began to run down his cheeks once again as the thoughts ran through his mind, ripping at him, clawing at him, making him feel like his previous moments of ecstasy were nothing more than brutal lies.

"What are you doing back here, Bass?!" Blues shouted, blocking a mirage of punches. "Why did you come back?!"

"To kill Rock."

That very answer seemed to stab at Blues and hurt him more than any of the punches, kicks, or plasma blasts that had been thrown at him in the past few minutes. To kill Rock. That very statement, those three words…as soon as Blues heard them, he suddenly felt as if it were his fault. He had nagged Rock to reveal his feelings for the ebony bioroid so intently, so forcefully, that if he hadn't had said a single thing, none of this may have happened. They would have continued living the way they had been, and Rock wouldn't be sitting on the floor, watching through wide, tear-filled eyes as his brother and the one he had spent his most intimate moments with attempted to kill each other. …No. No, it was better that Rock revealed his emotions rather than have them kept locked inside, only to come out in some violent rage or something. But still… Maybe if everything had been kept a secret…

A swift kick to the chest brought Blues crashing to the ground once more, knocking him out of his thoughts. "Damn it!" he swore. Clenching his teeth, he hissed loudly just as Bass' buster cannon was shoved into his face. "What are you gonna do? Kill me?" he muttered, glaring at him from behind his sunglasses. "Your little fight's with Rock, not me, so why bother killing me?" _Please get out of here, Rock! Hurry up and get out!_

"…You're right," Bass answered coldly, lowering the cannon. "You're not worth my time. But he…he is." Within mere seconds, Bass was halfway across the room, making his way for the bioroid that sat in denial just a few yards away.

"NO!" Blues yelled, getting to his feet and following behind him.

"Stay back!" A loud bang sounded through the air as a charged plasma blast flew back, crashing into Blues' chest and sending him crashing to the ground one final time. He lay still, his yellow scarf fluttering slightly before falling limp next to its owner.

Rock whimpered softly. What was he to do? He didn't want to fight Bass, but he had to, or else he would surely be killed… _There must be a way I can get him to stop… Maybe…what if I spoke to him? Yeah! That might work!_ Raising to his feet slowly, he watched as Bass narrowed the gap between the two of them. "Bass, please stop! You're not like this! We've stopped fighting each other like this weeks ago! Remember? I love you, Bass! I don't know how many times I've told you that, but you've said it to me as well! We're in love, Bass! Please try to remem – " He flew back suddenly when Bass' shoulder slammed into his chest. He flew through the air, smashing right through the weakened wall behind him and straight to the soft grass outside. He clenched his eyes tightly, then opened them. The skies were gray and full with rain – the perfect weather to such a perfect day.

"Now, you die." Bass' monotone voice rung in Rock's ears like it was mocking him, telling him that he had lost, that Bass was officially gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. Rock felt tears begin to well up in his eyes again, but shook them away as he stood up. Bass rushed at him once more, readying a plasma blast that was surely going to be aimed at Rock's main circuits, but the Blue Bomber jumped out of the way and kicked him in the back before he could get a clear shot. He could feel his insides tearing apart as they began to fight with one another, Bass' cold eyes digging into his soft blue ones as the shot at each other, barely missing the other as the blasts sounded and exploded.

__

Why does it have to be this way? Rock thought as the battle continued, memories of past pains flooding his mind. _We were so happy, Bass… So happy with one another, it was like we were in our own little world… Why did it have to come to this? Why are we fighting each other to the death once again?_ Without truly realizing it, Rock charged up his buster cannon, bolted towards the ebony bioroid, and shot. The armor that usually protected Bass from any extremely harmful damage shattered, exploding into hundreds of tiny shards making way for the blast to run him through. Bass staggered back slightly before glancing down at the basketball-sized hole in his chest. Peering up at Rock once more, he growled loudly, giving him a glare fit to kill before oil began to seep out from the large wound and his mouth. Taking one last step forward, he collapsed to the ground, shuddering slightly as his circuits began to fry slowly from the heat that the blast had given off, his system slowly shutting down.

Rock stared down at him. What had happened? Why was he on the ground? And that hole… Where had it come from? Rock was confused. Everything that had just happened while he was locked in thought were nothing more than a blur. But as he stared at Bass' fallen body, realization slowly set in. The oil seeping everywhere, the fact that Bass was still and his now bare circuits and chips sparked with the last of the energy…

Bass was dying.

No: he was dead.

Rock blinked, refusing to believe it, refusing to accept that his love had been stripped away from him. He slipped to his knees, his eyes wide as he saw everything, yet nothing at all. He began to shake violently, his system freezing up as millions of thoughts ran through his head. It was his fault…all his fault. _Bass is dead because of me… I…I…_ He wrapped his arms around himself, silent tears streaming down his face. What was he to do? What could he do? He couldn't think right; all he could do was deny everything that had taken place, but he couldn't accept it. He knew what had just taken place, but he couldn't…

A loud howl filled the sky. Rock's head snapped up to look at what it was. Treble stood just feet away from his master, stepping up to him slowly as he peered down at him, almost appearing to be denying the situation as well. Nudging Bass' limp form softly, he stood in silence for a time before howling in pain. Using his nose to hoist Bass onto his back, the two of them disappeared in a flash of light.

Silence fell upon the Light compound as Rock stared off into the forest, confused, saddened, in complete denial at what had just happened and what he had just done. His mind refused to believe anything, as if he was sure that it was nothing more than a nightmare and he would awaken. Rain slowly began to fall onto him and all that surrounded him, making everything around him blurry within the water's soft grace. A hand was slowly placed upon his shoulder, squeezing it lightly. Looking up, Rock spotted Blues gazing down at him, an unreadable expression worn on his face as he waited for his auto-repair system to finish his repairs. Rock looked at his own hands. Red, stained with blood, Bass' blood, his love's blood, all over his hands, his body, his supposed soul… Why? Why did it have to end this way?

Blues sat next to him and hugged him tightly, trying his best to soothe his brother's pain even though he clearly knew there was nothing he could do. "Rock… I'm sorry… Happy endings are only in fairy tales…," he whispered, closing his eyes as he listened to Rock finally break down, his body shaking so violently and his cries of pain so horrible that Blues felt tears began to well in his eyes as well. Tears for his brother, tears for his loss, tears for the happiness that had all found when peace rested between the two just hours earlier.

Soon, the wails of anguish were drowned out by the loud patter of rain against the ground around them, but neither of them bothered to move, only listening to the pitter-patter of the water and the loud, pain-filled howl that sounded into the mid-day sky.

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owari

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Author's Note: As some of you may have realized if you read this earlier, I have added quite a bit, and changed some stuff around as well. Not only did Lauren-sama's recommendation on how I should have written Rock's reaction to Bass' death inspire me to fix it, but I was also pretty angry with the way I had written it out in my sleepy stupor, since this is now the way it was originally supposed to be rather than that "BASS! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU?!?!" way. Yeah. Anyway, I believe I may take a break from this lil' series and work on my FortexGospel one…but that all depends on if I get enough people to go, "NO! WE WANT THE SEQUEL NOW, YOU STUPID LOSER GIRL!!!" =p Yes, I need to KNOW people enjoy the story before I bother continuing it. I'm a loser that way.


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